New casts

My new casts - red this time!

It’s been a bit disappointing because I thought I was having my casts off yesterday.  I did have them taken off, which involved a really scary round drill thing, and when they were off my legs felt a bit weird.  BUT then we went to see Mr F and he said I needed to have casts put back on for another 2 weeks!

At least they are smaller – they just go below my knee so they look like socks.  I got red ones this time.  Apparently when I have the casts off in two weeks I’ll have to wear knee braces – yuck!

Anyway, it’s a bit easier to walk and the really exciting news is that I’m going to my friends house to play tomorrow.  This will be the first time I’ve been round to a friend’s house since I had my operation nearly 6 months ago.  I’m really excited!

New shoes

My new shoes

Last week when I went to the hospital to have my legs x-rayed (again!) the surgeon told me I was doing really well at walking but that I needed to move my ankles.  So I had my bolt-on shoes removed and now I have to walk on my own feet, taking all the weight through my bones.  This should make my bones heal even faster as the more weight they take, the faster they heal.  It should make it easier for me to walk when my frames and casts are off, too, because my ankles won’t be so stiff.

I was a bit frightened of walking without the bolt-on shoes at first, as my ankles were quite sore.  But now, after 5 days, I am walking as much as I was with the bolt-on shoes (basically everywhere).  I like my new shoes better than the ugly bolt-on ones, and they are much easier to get on and off.  This means it isn’t such a hassle having a shower.

Today at school I sat at a normal table in the classroom for the first time.  It was much nicer than being stuck in my wheelchair.  I had felt really high up in the wheelchair compared to my friends, but when I sat at the table with them I felt really low down! 

Walking on my own

I’ve been practising loads, and here are some of the things I can do now:

1. Walk on my own (without help from any adults)
2. Get in and out of my wheelchair by myself (but I need someone to fold the leg supports out of the way and put my step down)
3. Lift my leg up so that it’s pointing to the ceiling when I’m lying in bed
4. Turn onto my tummy from lying on my back
5. Go down the stairs by myself

So as you can see things are progressing really well.  This morning I freaked my mum and my brother out by getting out of bed myself and when they came in I was the other side of the room!

My legs don’t hurt any more and that is why I can do so much.

Straight legs!

On Wednesday I went to the hospital to see my consultant.  When he looked at my x-rays (which I have to have done every time I go) he said that the bones were lined up straight now and that my frames don’t need turning any more.   So I don’t need to go back to hospital for 5 weeks now!  Also it means that I could have the turning bits taken off my frames which were sticking out in between my frames and making it very hard to walk.

Now I’ve just got to wait for my bones to grow back.  To help that happen I’ll have to do lots of walking.

Unfortunately walking is harder at the moment even though the turning has stopped because it felt like one of my bones suddenly snapped.  The nurse said it could have been that when my bone was cut in the operation, a thin strand may have stayed connected and this suddenly snapped.  So my right leg is very painful when I stand on it now.  I hope this will get better soon so that I can get better at walking and have my frames off sooner.  (The doctors have said that the more I walk, the quicker my bones will heal.)

Post op

Dad writes:

Bella had her second operation late this afternoon. She was back on the ward by 7pm feeling a bit rough but not too bad.  The consultant says it went well and she now has an extra pin in each leg.  It wasn’t as big as the first operation and hopefully Bella will be home on Friday or Saturday!

Another operation

I went to the hospital today and had x-rays again.  This time the doctor decided that he wants me to have another operation and put another pin in my legs.  He called it a minor operation because it won’t be as big as the last one.  So I’m going back into hospital tomorrow and will go down to theatre (that’s what they call the room where you have your operation) in the afternoon.  I won’t be able to eat anything after 7.30 in the morning.

Hopefully I will only have to stay in 1 or 2 nights.  So I won’t be able to go to school for the rest of this week.  I will miss the Guitar Concert and the Easter Egg Raffle.  But my sister has got my tickets so if I win she has promised to collect my eggs for me!

Wheelchair

Yesterday a lady came round to sort out a wheelchair for me that I can use when I come out of hospital.  It was very big (in fact, enormous!) so I’m going to have a size smaller.  There are bits that stick out of the end to rest my legs on so that I can sit in it with my legs out straight.

If, when I’ve got my frames off, I still need a wheelchair to get around (because I probably won’t want to use a buggy), then I will be able to get a coloured wheelchair.  (I’d probably choose pink!)

Today a man came to the house to measure for a ramp for the front door so that I can get in and out in the wheelchair.  It’s going to be massive!  I would like a small ramp but apparently for safety reasons, it needs to be very long and have walls to stop the wheelchair from falling off the sides.  We might not be able to park the car where we normally park it because the ramp is going to take up so much space!

Leg-straightening operation

I’m going to have an operation soon to straighten my legs.  They are not at all straight.  You might not think it’s a problem that my legs aren’t straight, but it means it hurts my joints (mostly my ankles and sometimes my knees) when I walk, run and stand up for a long time.

The operation won’t fix my legs straight away.  I will have to wear metal frames around my legs for about 6 months, so my legs will get worse before they get better.

How do I feel about the operation? Well, I feel a bit nervous but glad that my legs will get straighter.

Over half term I got some nightdresses and skirts to wear because I won’t be able to wear trousers with the frames on.  But I don’t mind wearing skirts because I got mini-skirts and I like wearing mini-skirts.

I’m worried about being lonely in hospital but my mum will be there. I’ve already been to the hospital a few times and I don’t really like the strange smells (it freaks me out a bit).  But there were some good things there:

1. All the beds have their own television with the Disney channel on! (I don’t have that at home.) 
2. I’m going to take lots of books because I read quite fast and I love reading.  The book I’m reading at the moment is ‘Cat 0′ Nine Tails’ by Julia Golding.  It’s in the Cat Royal series and it’s about a girl who’s always getting into scrapes and sometimes she dresses up as a boy and has lots of adventures.  I love adventure stories.
3. You have a menu each night and you get to order what you want from it to eat.

I’ve got some exercises to do which the physiotherapist told me to do.  They are to keep my legs from stiffening up when I’ve got the frames on.  But I keep forgetting to do my exercises (I’m supposed to start doing them now).  I need something to remind me!

My operation

Today I have found out the date of my operation.  Unfortunately it’s on my dad’s birthday (and my cousin’s).  I have to go into hospital on 11th March and I think the operation will be on the 12th.  I am going to have frames on my legs for about 6 months to get them straight.  It’s called bi-lateral limb reconstruction (I don’t really understand these words).  They are going to break my bones, put pins in them and then move the pins with the frames and that’s how they straighten.

I am feeling a bit nervous but also pleased that I’ll have my legs straight after about 6 months.  And all my aches I have in my legs will go.  I’m glad that my mum’s going to stay with me.